23 July 2010

The newspaper is the most important printed source for local history and especially so for genealogists.
– Dr. Henry Snyder

On Saturday, July 10, 2010, at the CGS July membership meeting, Dr. Henry Snyder presented The California Newspaper: A Genealogical Treasure, What Survives, How to Find and Use It. Henry is a member of CGS and Professor of History Emeritus at the University of California, Riverside.

Now retired, Snyder continues to offer assistance to The Center for Bibliographical Studies and Research (CBSR) at the University of California, Riverside, where he was the director of the California Newspaper Project from 1990 through 2009. He and his team scoured the state, chasing down any clues that might lead to a stash of old papers or microfilm. According to their website, "Close to 9,000 California newspapers were inventoried in over 1,400 repositories throughout the state, 1.5 million pages of California newspapers were preserved and made available on microfilm, and 100,000 rolls of negative microfilm rolls are being processed for permanent storage at the UC Regional Library Storage Facilities."

Although the first California newspaper wasn't published until 1846, the state has the third largest number of known titles after New York and Illinois. Papers have been published in thirty-nine different languages in the state, including Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Japanese and Chinese.